Here are suggested discussion questions and vocabulary words for the following chapters:
Chapter 2: "Why I didn't go to School" (pp. 4-5)
1). How does August define friendship in this chapter? Is it similar or different to our definition of friendship? Why?
Chapter 3: "How I came to Life" (pp. 6-7)
1). At the end of this chapter, August describes his family: 'Mom is beautiful, by the way. And Dad is handsome. Via is pretty. In case you were wondering.' (7).
What is August already assuming about the reader? Why would we be wondering what his family looks like? What other wonderings do we have?
Vocabulary:
anomalies (6)
hysterical (7)
Chapter 4: "Christopher's House" (pp. 8-9)
1). There are many references in this chapter to August acting like a baby:
" 'Then that's it, case closed,' I said, shrugging, and I sat in her lap like I was a baby' " (8).
"' I don't want to,' I said. I admit : I made my voice sound a little babyish' " (9).
Why does August choose to act like a baby during these instances? Can we relate? What is he hoping to accomplish? My students and I had a great discussion here about August's voice; we considered how honest and open he is, what he chooses to reveal to the reader, etc.
Chapter 5 "Driving"
Ask students to look for August's references to people smiling in these next couple of chapters...
1). "Mom smiled at me. Her smile kind of hugged me."- what does August mean by this?
2). When August finds out that his parents tricked him into taking a test for his new school, his mom refers to it as a white lie (p.12). What is a white lie? Did she do the right thing by lying to him? When is it okay to lie?
3). Look for more 'baby references' that August makes.. specifically on pp.12-13:
"I usually love when they talk about when I was a baby. Sometimes I want to curl up into a little tiny ball and let them hug me and kiss me all over. I miss being a baby, not knowing stuff. But I was isn't in the mood for that now"
This is a great topic for discussion, particularly with my 4th graders who are on the cusp of longing to still be a child and yearning for more adult privileges... August's attachment to his childhood, specifically during tough times, is reminiscent of any typical 10-year old.... my students find a lot of commonalities between themselves and August.. and this is one particular instance
4). When August tells Via, at the end of this chapter, that Mr. Tushman is the " 'principal of my new school' " - what does this tell the reader? What has lead August to accept the fact that he will be starting a new school? Look for clues within this past chapter to support your ideas.
Vocabulary:
slaughter (10)
hindsight (11)
No comments:
Post a Comment